I had never been to Paris, even though geographically speaking it's right there, so for my decade-plus in London I'd heard people say "ah, Paris isn't all that," but then I spent a few days sauntering from bistro to bistro, having the most beautiful person I'd ever seen in my life bring me incredible bread, sitting out on the pavement drinking wine, getting a closer look at the architecture from the promenade plantée, and I thought: maybe those people were gatekeeping. This place is incredible. And every time I go to the mainland I'm reminded of how good things could be back home in London if we could just get our act together for a couple of days. When I got back home I tried to bring the Parisian energy with me, took a cup of coffee out to the pavement to soak in the sun, and breathed in the traffic fumes from inches away. It wasn't the same, man. It just wasn't the same.